Editorials

Just this week I was browsing my facebook profile and catching up with what’s going on in friends’ lives like I often do and noticed a startling trend of people unfriending those with different political or religious views.

My favorite part of any newspaper is the editorial section. We call ours the Opinion page. It’s the most critical component of a local newpaper, in my opinion.

But it can also be a revealing page and not just because it tells the public’s view on a myriad of topics. When the Opinion page of a community newspaper is anemic, that is, lacking the voice of its readers, it’s a sign of apathy or a lack of belief in the power of a single voice.

Even if you don’t drink Wild Turkey or hunt wild turkey, you have to admit that the work the Wild Turkey distillery has done to increase visitor traffic to Anderson County is pretty remarkable.

This community is truly blessed with a corporate citizen that not only provides positive notoriety but also jobs and taxes. And just a few miles away is Four Roses, another great bourbon job/tax producer and tourist attraction.

In his ruling Tuesday on the Bluegrass Pipeline, Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd said much the same as several legislators pushing for a bill addressing the issue of eminent domain.

Shepherd’s decision saying the company does not have the power of eminent domain doesn’t preclude the construction of a pipeline through Kentucky; it only stops the real or threatened seizure of property from unwilling landowners.

An extra $50,000 for school safety is a needed $50,000, even if it comes courtesy of the controversial Bluegrass Pipeline.
A few weeks ago it seemed no public agency in Anderson County would dare touch pipeline money through the Bluegrass Pipeline Community Grant Program.
Looks like the school district has, and staff has confirmed that applications were submitted late last week for two $25,000 pipeline grants.
That’s a good thing for the school district, and here’s why.

Any takers on a bet that state lawmakers again this year won’t be able to agree to a budget within their allotted 60 days?
Didn’t think so, not with the mish-mash of problems that are sure to divide and ultimately conquer legislators more worried about the coming election than actually fixing Kentucky’s budget woes.
As if taking a cue from their compatriots in Washington, DC, look for legislators on both sides of the aisle to seek victory through vitriol in a game of mutually assured destruction for everyone but themselves.

There will be a push in the coming year to amend Kentucky’s constitution and allow municipalities to enact a local sales tax option up to 1 percent.
If OK’d by the legislature, a statewide vote would determine if the fiscal court or city council here would be allowed to enact such a tax.
Questions about the proposal still outweigh the answers and, while we are almost always loath to support tax increases, this one might be a workable deal for Anderson County.

Column as I see ’em …
As hard it might be to believe, the least objectionable thing the Anderson County Board of Education did last Wednesday was raise your property tax rates.
The most objectionable? Blatant dishonesty, bordering on outright lies.
In a remarkably unconscionable and despicable display, school board members actually used the threat of a “state” takeover of the school system to rationalize raising your taxes.

The American Civil Liberties Union is just getting warmed up, and elected officials running public meetings in Anderson County better dang well listen up and start preparing for the inevitable.
By warning the school district about Bible distribution by the Gideons, the ACLU has proved its tentacles have no limits, even into a state where most of what that bunch presses for is flatly ignored — outside of Lexington and Louisville, that is.